West of downtown Washington, D.C. and just across the Potomac River, the Ballston neighborhood in Arlington County, Virginia is a popular place for those who want to be close to the action. While the entire “Beltway” offers residents easy access to our capital, those who live and work in this part of Virginia report a higher quality of life. That’s because these people are able to distance themselves from 24/7 politics found nearby. Among the notable businesses that call Ballston home are The Nature Conservancy, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Josh Kurstin, a local commercial real estate expert whose dealings with corporate clients has given him a greater understanding of unique needs, can proudly add Poke it Up and Zoup! to the list of companies in Ballston.
According to a 2019 report from WTOP.com, Josh Kurstin represented University of Phoenix during negotiations that saw the two eateries move into the Arlington Square building at 4401 N. Fairfax Drive. Kurstin, of commercial real estate firm JLL, was accompanied in the agreement by members of H&R Retail, Brookfield Property Partners, Paraclete Realty and HUSB Commercial Real Estate Services. This just goes to show how many moving parts exist when large chains move into existing real estate in an area as hot as Ballston.
The payoff for those who work or live in the area is a new Hawaiian poké bowl eatery featuring “raw fish preparation typical of the Hawaiian dish” and “fast-casual soup and sandwich shop,” according to the report, which adds that “office space above was mostly vacated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2014.” For those in the commercial real estate sector, letting portions of a property sit vacant isn’t the worst possible outcome. Getting the wrong tenant into a building could end in disaster when there isn’t enough foot traffic to support operations, thus forcing real estate companies to court another company. With both eateries now up and running, Josh Kurstin looks forward to seeing them succeed and serve the residents of the Ballston neighborhood.
Amenities within the Arlington Square building along N. Fairfax Drive include on-site parking and roof deck views. These are desirable offerings for any business and Josh Kurstin expects the trend of new businesses coming into the area to continue. If this does turn out to be the case, he and other commercial real estate management teams will be able to call on an encyclopedic knowledge of the lay of the land and suggest the right unit for the right tenant.
